10326: TV and movie pictures and video pictures

I have a question regarding pictures -Are pictures that are manafactured through means such as video, computers etc.
(i.e. they come on and off the screen)permissable? Can you please verify this with proof and evidence?

Praise be to
Allaah.

The
ruling on a thing depends on the way in which it is perceived. It is
essential to know how the picture-making you refer to is done. The author
of Risaalat Ahkaam al-Tasweer (The ruling on picture-making)
said:

1.
Movie pictures or pictures on a cinema film:

This
is a method which transmits moving pictures with sound for a limited
time span, showing all the events that happened within this time frame.
The picture which is shown by the film on the screen is the shadow or
reflection of that thing, not its real essence, after it has been recorded
on the film. It says in al-Sharee’ah al-Islamiyyah wa’l-Funoon
(Islamic sharee’ah and the Arts) that the cinema is called [in Arabic]
akhyaliyyah [from khayaal, meaning shadow or dim reflection],
“because it shows the shadows of things, not their real essence.”

2
– TV pictures

This
is a method which transmits pictures and sounds at the same time via
an electrical impulse. This is the result of the effect of light from
the object whose picture is being taken being reflected on a mica sheet
which is covered with a vast number of tiny particles made of photosensitive
material, manufactured from silver oxide and caesium, of which the particles
are separated from one another and isolated electrically.

This
kind of image-making using machines is very similar to the image on
a movie film, but in TV pictures, the images are changed to electronic
signals, then to electromagnetic waves, which are then either sent via
antennas to be picked up by the receiving apparatus in TV sets, within
the range that the signal can reach, or they are sent to be stored in
the form of magnetic changes on plastic tapes that have been plated
with the appropriate magnetic substance that can store these waves.

In
order to show what has been recorded on these tapes after these waves
have been stored, it has to pass through a machine which transforms
it once more into electronic signals then sends it to a screen in the
form of electrical signals, so that it appears as a picture, but only
after a complex operation.

The
TV set is the equipment which receives the electrical waves and gathers
them, then transmits them in a regulated manner in the form of a picture
with complete features.

There
is another kind which is considered to be similar to this kind of image-making.
This is something similar to the telephone which is used in some industrially-advanced
countries, which transmits both the voice and the image of the speaker,
so both parties can see one another on the screen of the device on which
they are talking.

Similarly,
there are cameras which are installed at the doors of houses. This system
picks up the voice and image of the person who is coming to the house
and transmits it to a screen inside the house, so that whoever is inside
the house can see it clearly. And similarly there is equipment which
is used to watch out for criminals stealing and so on in banks, stores,
etc.

These
kinds of equipment are considered to be of one kind, but are used for
a variety of purposes, whereby the camera covers the area which is to
be watched over, and it transmits the images to a screen like a TV,
where the image appears clearly. New things are appearing all the time,
and we do not know what will appear in the future. If this indicates
anything, it indicates the mind-boggling expansion of the use of machines
to make images of both kinds, both still and moving, in many areas,
including manufacturing, war, security, education, medicine, social,
etc.

Ahkaam
al-Tasweer by Ahmad ibn ‘Ali Waasil, p. 65-67

Shaykh
Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:

With regard to pictures made in the modern fashion, they
fall into two categories:

The
first category is those which have no tangible substance (and can only
be seen by running them through a machine), as I was told is the case
with pictures on video tapes. There is no ruling at all concerning these,
and they do not come under the prohibition at all. Hence the scholars
who forbid making pictures with cameras on paper (photographs) permitted
this (video pictures), and said that there is nothing wrong with this.
Then it was asked, is it permissible to film lectures which are given
in the mosques? The (scholarly) view was that it is better not to do
that, because it may disturb the worshippers and because they may film
things that may not be appropriate, and so on.

The
second category is fixed or still pictures on paper (photographs) …

But
the matter needs further discussion if one wants to make these kind
of permissible pictures. For they are subject to five rulings which
depend on the intention. If the intention is something forbidden, then
it is haraam. If he intends something waajib (obligatory), then it is
waajib. Sometimes pictures may be essential, especially moving pictures.
For example, if we see someone in the act of committing a crime against
a person’s rights, such as an attempt to kill and so on, and we cannot
prove it in any way but by taking pictures, then in this case taking
pictures becomes waajib, especially in cases where pictures may decide
the case. The means are subject to the rulings on the ends. If we make
these pictures in order to prove the identity of a person for fear that
someone else may be accused of the crime, this is also acceptable, indeed
it is essential.

But if we take these pictures just to enjoy
looking at them, this is undoubtedly haraam... And Allaah knows best.”
(See Al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 2/197-199)